Storm Hawks: Phantom of the History
by Rickudemus
Summary: History tends to repeat itself, sometimes the good way and sometimes the bad way. Aerrow and his friends are a part of the loop, although rather oblivious to it. What can they do to make it end? ON HIATUS, since I don't know if I'll be writing more chapters, 'cause this fic is so old.
1. Prologue: Legend

**Thousand years ago, there was a land that was filled with darkness and despair; everything had been destroyed by the evil forces of the Kingdom of Cyclonia. The lands beared no colour of green, the trees had seen no leaves in a long time and the animals were dying from hunger and thirst. Many people had been wiped out by the Kingdom of Cyclonia and it was believed that no-one could oppose to their mighty powers, but then, upon came the five knights.**

**The five knights were all from different kingdoms who decided to finally join hands and take down the evil Kingdom and out an end to this madness.**

**The leader of the five knights raised his sword towards the skies, bringing the light of hope for all the survivors. The man roared, sending shivers down the spines of the evil forces.**

**But the ruler of the Kingdom of Cyclonia didn't give in to the power of the great knight and charged towards the man. The knight swung his sword towards the force of evil and…**

* * *

><p>A dark male forcefully slammed the book close with a loud grunt, making the boy, who sitting at the other side of the table, whimper pathetically. "Don't end it there! How does it continue!" He whined, standing up angrily.<p>

"You know how it continues. You've heard it like… Five million times?" The older one grunt, dropping the book on the table and lazily raising up from his seat and heading towards the exit of the room. The younger boy growled, quickly going over to the book and taking it in his arms. He then ran after the older man, looking overly pissed.

"You have to read it 'till the end!" He whimpered, making the older one stop harshly and look at his annoying nephew in anger.

"The knight killed the lord of the evil and brought back the light in these lands. The lands were filled with green, the five knights separated and build each their own kingdoms and ours became the kingodm of Atmosia and so on, and so on…" He rolled his eyes and kept walking along the long hallway, the younger boy still following him with a displeased look on his face.

"Hmh. You're not fun at all."

"I never said I was."

Both of them walked along, neither saying a word. They walked towards the main hall of the castle, where their father sat, bored out of his skull as one of the villagers were whining about nothing and everything to him. The two stood behind the pillars at the left side of the room, from their father's direction.

"The bakery store is in a bad condition. I mean, really bad! Half of the roof is gone, probably wind took it, but we don't have any material to fix it, and—" The villager explained, the king sighing hopelessly at the complaining. The man kept going on and on, making the dark male at the pillars grunt in annoyment.

"Villagers… What scum." These words made the red-haired boy pout at him and hold onto the book a bit tighter.

"Vilagers are what make a Kingdom a Kingdom."

"Sure." He rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say."

Then, the king of the palace stood up, not looking very happy with the villager. "I understand your complaints and I will start working on it, once I get my soldiers back and will receive the needed items. Now thank you and farewell." He watched the man, while looking half angry and half tired. The man then bowed and stood up, quickly walking out of the castle.

The king took a deep breath and sat down on his seat, rubbing his forehead, feeling the stress build up once again. "It's always something…"

"Father!" The young boy ran towards the throne, holding onto the book with a big smile. The king looked over to him and gave him a small, but a very bright smile.

"Aerrow." He chuckled as the boy now stood in front of him. "Ah, the book again." He then noticed the older teen walk over to him, definitely not looking pleased. "You got to read it again, huh?"

"He didn't finish." Aerrow growled, giving the older one a tiny glare.

"You have memorized the whole damn story! Why should I read it to you?" He snarled, glaring back to the boy, the king now trying to calm them both down.

"Now, now, younglings. No fighting in the family." He stood up, placing a hand on his son's shoulder. "Ace, you go do something else and I read the story with Aerrow."

"Yeah, whatever." Ace rolled his eyes and bowed with a growl, before leaving the huge room in silence.

"Why's he always such a jerk?" The boy looked after the man, but didn't receive an answer from the man as he sat back down, patting his lap as in inviting the boy to sit down, which the boy did with pleasure.

"So, where did he end it?"

"Here…" Aerrow gave the book for the man, who eyed the story carefully.

"Alright." He nodded, suddenly clicking his fingers. "Oh yes! I almost forgot." He smiled brighter to the boy, who watched him curiously. "Guess who is going to visit us tomorrow?"

Aerrow smiled widely in joy. He knew exactly who he was going to meet. after all, his father asked the exactly same thing every time. "Finn and Jazz!" He chirped, his father nodding with a chuckle. "Oh, yes! It's been so long since I last saw them!" He jumped off the man's lap and swung his arms in front of his chest in excitement. "I should make them something nice!" He looked at his father, his eyes now sparkling like a pair of stars. "I'm going to think of something! Bye, father!" He then ran off before the man could say a word, the king just laughing quietly to himself.

"Such a child…" He smiled warmly to himself as he looked up to the ceiling that was very high above him. "I really wish he'll never lose that innocence." He closed the book and stood up, sighing deeply. "I have a very bad feeling about the future…"

* * *

><p>"Aerrow, what in the world are you doing?"<p>

"I'm making a gift for Finn and Jazz!"

"Alright, but what exactly is that?"

"Huh? Well…" The boy blinked as he sat on the floor, which was filled with lots of wood, different kind of paint and leaves. He had been really excited about making a gift that he really didn't think what he was going to make.

Now that he thought about it, he felt like a fool.

"It's an ornament." He answered. The boy that was standing in front of him, arms crossed and head tilting from side to side. "See, you can but it on a shelf or… A table… Or you can use it as a paperweight!"

The other one sighed. "You're always making weird things." He walked over to his bed that was almost right next to Aerrow's, falling down on it and sliding his hands under his head.

"Come on now, Radarr! It's going to be beautiful!" He cheered, smiling at his friend, who was staring the ceiling in silence, looking like his mind was occupied with something serious. "Radarr?" He stood up and walked over to his friend, watching him in concern. "What is it?"

"I don't know… Something in the air doesn't taste good…"

"You mean there's something wrong?"

"Well, yes…" The blue haired boy sat up, turning his gaze over the large window which was on the right side of the room from his view. "I feel like… There's something going to happen."

"Really?" Aerrow blinked, looking over the window as well, now heading over it and gazing up to the dark, star filled sky. "Now that you mention it… I've been feeling something nasty all day as well." He swallowed, narrowing his eyes. "What do you think it is?"

"I'm not sure…" Radarr sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "I'll try to find out more tomorrow when I'm back to myself."

"Oh, alright." The redhead looked at his friend, giving him a slight nod. "Good luck and please be careful, Radarr"

The blue haired boy chuckled, laying back down, instantly closing his eyes. "I will, don't worry." He yawned, crossing his legs and swinging his top leg gently. "You should go to sleep as well. Tomorrow is going be a long day."

"But… The gift…"

"Forget it. That silly human doesn't deserve one anyway." He grunted, making his friend laugh softly as he went to his own bed, throwing the blanked over his body.

"Why do you dislike Finn so much? He's a nice guy!"

"Nice guy? He always pulls my tail, messes up my fur and hides my food! If he ever stays here over the night. I swear…" He growled angrily, Aerrow shaking his head and rolling his eyes with a smile.

"You two are impossible." The young prince chuckled, taking a better position on his bed; he turned on his right side, now facing to Radarr's direction. He looked over to the blue-haired boy, who was staring Aerrow like a hawk. "…what?"

Radarr shook his head and kept staring. "It's nothing." He narrowed his eyes. "Just… I uh…" He swallowed, giving him a small smile. "Nice dreams, prince."

The green eyes started into the pair of yellow ones and for a second Aerrow thought about asking what was on his friend's mind, but he felt like he wasn't going to get an answer. "Radarr. Whatever bothers you, you can always tell me. We're best friends, aren't we?"

"Yes, prince."

"It's Aerrow." The prince pouted, Radarr only nodding with a smile as he slowly closed his eyes. Aerrow pulled to covers over his face, still pouting.

_-What the heck… He always acts so mysterious and cool… He should just tell me what's bothering him, so I can help… Stupid Radarr…-_

With that, both boys fell asleep, a bad feeling bothering their dreams for the whole night.

The night was getting stormy by every minute as the heavy rain rambled on the shoulders of a youngling, who was standing in the middle of the kingdom of Atmosia. She watched the sky from under his dark hood, letting the water drops, mixed up with the feeling of a heavy wind, touch her chin and lips.

"The taste of misery… Ah, I've waited for this so long…" When a big lighting exploded in the sky a wide, evil smile grew on her dark lips. "It's good to be alive and well again." She began to walk along the streets of Atmosia, watching the building in disgust and in pleasure at the same time. "It's annoying how these pathetic humans have build back everything I destroyed, but then again… If there was nothing to destroy, it would be no fun." She then stopped, looking over to her right side, eyeing the castle hungrily. It had been built on top of a rather low mountain, ten minutes away from the female's spot.

"Atmosia… I shall leave you for the dessert." She licked her lips, laughing quietly to herself. "You are all going to pay what you did to me!" She growled out loud, raising her fists up to the sky, another lighting striking as if answering to her call. "I will get my revenge!" She glared at the castle for one last time. "Aero." She breathed out as another lighting struck to where she was.

She vanished into thin air and not even a trace was left on the ground.

And the storm slowly began to clear out.


	2. 1: Table of peace

"Ah, it's such a beautiful day, isn't it, Aerrow?" Rook, the king, explained as he proudly stood at the entrance of the castle, watching the bright sky in a pleased matter, while the youngling's gaze was stuck on the ground. "Hmm?" The older man watched his son in curiosity, lowering down his head to see the boy's face. "Is something wrong?"

"I couldn't prepare a gift…" He muttered, making his father blink a few times, who then started laughing madly. Aerrow then growled at him in annoyance. "It's not funny! It's rude!"

"Oh, dear child. I'm sure they won't mind it at all." Rook rubbed his eyes, still chuckling in amusement.

"Still… Wanted to give him something…"

"Hey!" Rook then chirped, capturing the boy's attention again. "I see them!" He kept a hand above his eyes, the sun being a slight bother for him as he tried to watch over to the gate entrance.

"Ah!" Aerrow smiled widely as he saw a familiar blonde hair shine brightly in the sun. He then ran a few steps away from his father, waving both of his hands in the air. "Finn!" When the two came closer, he stopped waving and Rook walked over to Aerrow and placed his hand on his son's shoulder, smiling happily to his old friend.

"Jazz! Long time no see!" He chuckled once again. Jazz grinned, stopping his horse right in front of Rook and making it turn a bit, so the horse's head wouldn't be in the way.

"Is sweet being here with all ya lot!" He snickered happily, both Rook and Aerrow laughing nervously.

"And you're still talking like that, huh?" Rook scratched his temple in slight embarrassment. He then blinked and look behind the two, then giving a confused stare at the blonde man. "No guards? Wow, that's quite risky."

"Ah, is no problem, Rookie my man. See, both Finn and I can take just fine care of us!" Jazz snickered, looking at his son who was sighing to himself in embarrassment as well. "See, I've taught the boy some self defence! And now that he's have his own horsy, he don't need no guards!"

"What?" Aerrow squealed in surprise, staring Finn in both respect and jealousy. "You got your own horse?"

"Why, of course." Finn smirked at his friend, touching his own chest with his hand. "After all, I'm already fifteen and I have proven to be worthy to have my own horse." He laughed proudly, Aerrow then letting out a small whine while staring Rook with big, teary eyes.

"Father! Why can't I have a horse! Why do I have to share one with Ace! His horse doesn't even like me!" He pouted, Rook giving him a shy laugh as he patted the boy's head.

"I'm sorry, Aerrow, but you're just not old enough yet. And you know what happened the last time." He shook his head and crossed his arms. "You just have to be patient."

"Hrmh… Is just one year…" Aerrow grunted, Jazz and Finn laughing cheerfully to him.

"Anyway." Rook then spoke up. "Let's take the horses to the stables and go have dinner, shall we?" He smiled to the guests as he began to lead the two to the mentioned place.

Both blondes jumped off of their rides, Jazz walking beside Rook, the two of them starting to talk all kinds of things Finn and Aerrow could care less about. "So, Finn." Aerrow began. "What have you been up to these days?" He smiled to his friend, who was petting his horse's kisser.

"Not much, really. Just trying to teach my father speak like a person, but so far, it hasn't really worked out." The older boy sighed, smiling then back at Aerrow. "How about you?" Almost instantly after the question, Aerrow became a bit pale, looking down in slight worry. "Aerrow?"

"It's just… I have this nasty feeling about our surroundings…" The redhead rubbed his arm, swallowing. "Radarr noticed it first and I wouldn't have noticed if it hadn't been for him, but… I don't like it, be as it may…"

"Huh." Finn blinked in surprise, tapping his chin. "Well, I can't really say much, my family doesn't possess the same sense of instinct as your family. Not to say I don't believe you, of course."

"Mmm…" Aerrow mumbled, looking at his friend in wonder. "Do you have any ideas what could it be?"

"None." The boy rubbed the back of his head. "Radarr said he will try to find out more about it." He licked his lips, looking at his blonde friend in concern. "I'm really worried… What if something really bad happened?"

"Oh, you worry too much." Finn waved his hand while rolling his eyes. "Just take it easy!"

"I… guess you're right…" Aerrow smiled weakly as they kept on walking, none of them noticing Ace standing on one of the windows, watching the group with a blank look on his face. He cracked his knuckles a bit, gritting his teeth.

"Scum." He snarled to himself, a smirk then forming on to his face. "Oh well. Just a little longer, Ace." He chuckled, turning around, stopping instantly when he noticed a blue creature glaring angrily at him on the floor. "Ah. You." He snickered as he bowed politely. "What has brought the assistant of the great crown prince to my presence?"

The creature growled lowly, narrowing his eyelids as he swung his tail in a threading matter. Ace snorted, "What, you don't like me? As if I care, fur ball." He shook his head, crossing his arms. "You just stay out of my way. My rank is higher than yours, which means I can get you killed any day." He sneered, the creature then letting out a sneeze like sound, which implied him being amused, making Ace frustrated. "What's so funny?"

The blue creature looked up to him with a smirk, slowly turning away and going on his own way. Ace hissed, clenching his fists. "That cocky fur ball…" He brushed his front hair away from his eyes, heading to a different direction from the animal. "I'll get you yet…"

* * *

><p>"…and this one time, Finn's got himself stuck on the trees and heck, he could not get no down from there! Then I just laughed and he was all: Dad, stop laughing and help ya son outta here! Man, you should've so been there, Rookie!" Jazz explained, laughing to himself brightly, Aerrow and Rook watching him with wide, surprised eyes, while Finn was eating his food slowly and silently. Ace was just pretty much ignoring them and so was Radarr.<p>

"Oh, I… I see. You've had, eh… Many adventures…" Rook chuckled nervously, holding up a piece of meat at the end of his fork, unable to move his mouth enough to eat it at the moment.

"Your father is nuts…" Aerrow whispered to Finn, who was sitting right next to him, really embarrassed about his father's acting.

"Tell me something I don't know…" He mumbled as he kept eating.

The table that all six were sitting around was very small. Rook always preferred to use it, whenever he'd enjoy a nice meal with his family or when king Jazz was visiting with his family. Ace would sometimes nag that a small table didn't fit a royal king, but one of those large ones, in which Rook saw no logic in. The smaller the table, the better you see the companions you are eating with and better the mood.

Only six people could sit around it and that's usually the amount of people that were willing to eat around it. If Jazz's wife came along, Ace never joined. Long story behind…

Rook and Aerrow were both sitting at the ends of the wooden object, while Finn sat on Aerrow's right side and Radarr on his left side. Jazz was sitting on the left side of Rook and Ace on the right and every now and then, Radarr would give quick glares at the man sitting next to him.

"But wow, Rook. That pet of yours is really well trained! I mean it's eating like people!" Jazz then said out loud, Radarr choking onto his food as Ace snickered evilly at the comment.

"Pet." He sneered.

"Jazz, he's not a pet and you know it." Rook sighed, finally being able to continue eating.

"He IS an animal! So he is a pet!"

"Grrrrlh…" Radarr growled, deciding to ignore the crazy old man as he keeps trying to finish his own meal.

"Father…" Finn growled also, glaring at him. "Stop being such an asshole and just eat with your mouth shut."

"Oy, don't say that to ya own daddy!" Jazz slapped Finn on the back, almost making him choke as well.

"Dinner table… Lots of deaths happen around it…" Aerrow mumbled to himself, shaking his head with a sigh. "No wonder, like…"

"You don't say…" Finn answered back, finishing his meal. "Thank you for the meal, it was very delicious. May I be excused?" He politely asked, Aerrow giving him a strange look.

"My goodness… You've learned manners!"

Finn glared at his friend, also hearing the blue creature snicker. "Someone in our family has to…" He stood up, Aerrow panicking a bit and quickly finishing his meal as well.

"Oh, wait for me!"

"Aerrow… You have to chew well…" Rook watched his son in slight worry as the boy laughed innocently.

"I'm alright dad, don't worry!" He then stood up and bowed. "Thank you for the meal!" He grabbed Finn's arm and started pulling him towards his room. "Come on, let's go play!"

Radarr watched the two with a glare, leaving part of his food on the plate, still bowing for gratitude and running after the two as fast as he could. Ace, who had been watching this scene in silence, now stood up and grunted. "I'm going too." He watched Rook with a blank look on his face, then walking away from the two men who were now left alone.

The king of Atmosia couldn't help but sigh at his little brother's behaviour. Well, his "son", more likely. He watched the direction where Ace had left, not even noticing the serious look on Jazz's face.

"Someday… All that anger and hate he still hides, will burst like the flame of a volcano and it will come after you, no matter how fast you may run." Jazz explained, his eyes looking rather blank, his words quickly capturing Rook's worried attention.

"Jazz…"

"After all, a beast knows another beast." Jazz closed his eyes and kept on eating slowly, Rook swallowing nervously and looking back to the direction, where Ace just disappeared.

"You are no beast… And neither is he, Jazz…"

"You're staying here for the night? Seriously?" Aerrow squealed as he and Finn were sitting on the floor, both drawing their own likes on a yellowish paper. Radarr was sitting by the window, glaring outside and every now and then giving Finn one as well.

"Didn't you know?" Finn blinked in surprise, tilting his head. "Father and Rook had talked about it two weeks before we came here."

"Ah, why didn't they tell me about it?" The red-haired prince pouted, looking down on his paper, the blonde laughing brightly to him.

"I found out today as well, when we were on our way here." He grinned happily, drawing few more lines on his drawing. "Our fathers are such jerks."

"They are." Aerrow chuckled, sudden light glowing from the window, lighting up the redhead's face with soft, light blue. He looked over to the window with a smile, Finn then looking over his shoulder to see what was going on as well.

When the light faded, a blue haired human was sitting by the window, watching outside in very slight interest. "It's almost time to go to sleep." The boy said, Aerrow chuckling to him and quickly going over to him.

"No way! For once Finn gets to see your human form, so I'm not going to ruin it by going to sleep!" He chirped, to which the older one commented in no way. Aerrow grabbed his hand and pulled him away from the window, leading him to the spot he was in earlier. "Let's draw!"

"I don't—"

"Here!" Aerrow forced a feather pen in the boy's hand, smiling sweeter than ever. "You can do it, Radarr!"

A faint blush appeared on the boy's face as he stared down the paper, looking slightly embarrassed. Aerrow then stood up with a grin. "Oh, hey, I'll go get something small to munch on! I'll be right back!" He ran to the door, Finn blinking in confusion.

"Can't you use a servant for that?"

"Oh, dad doesn't want us to do that." Aerrow chuckled and disappeared from the room, Finn watching after him with a raised eyebrow.

"Wow." He blinked, looking at Radarr. "He serious?" Radarr just nodded, lowering the pen towards the ink bottle. "Huh." Finn chuckled, making new lines on the large paper. "He's kind of cute when he's being all innocent like that."

Then suddenly, Radarr dropped his pen and grabbed Finn's shirt from the collar and glaring very angrily at him. "You touch him with your filthy hands even ONCE, and I'll kill you with my own bare hands or claws." He growled lowly, Finn watching him with wide eyes.

"H-hey, Radarr… What are you…"

Radarr tightened his grip, squeezing out a hurt moan out of the blonde. "I mean it, human. Stay. Away. From. Him." He snarled, narrowing his eyes and then letting go of him, returning to his former position. He took the pen in his hand again, Aerrow storming in with a very bright smile while carrying random snacks for all of them.

"Sorry it took long!" He placed the plate on the floor and sat down, looking at the two in wonder. "Everything alright?" He blinked a few times, Finn laughing nervously as he rubbed his throat gently.

"Of course! Let's continue with our drawing!" He chirped, taking his pen and drawing something really horrible looking, while Aerrow smiled sweetly at him.

"Now that's the attitude I admire!" Aerrow followed the older one's example, Radarr quietly drawing small pictures on the paper, hopelessly stealing glances at his master and giving sharp glares at the blonde trash.

"Hey, I got an idea!" Finn squealed as he looked up to his younger friend. "Let's go horse riding tomorrow!"

"Really? That'd be awesome!" Aerrow answered happily, almost instantly looking down sadly. "But… I don't have a horse…"

"Oh, don't sweat it; you can just ride with me!" The blonde said, hearing a low growl from the oldest one of the group, Finn then coughing into his fist. "I mean, with Radarr."

"But aren't you busy?" Aerrow looked at his assistant, who didn't dare to look up fpr some odd reason.

"Ah… Yes…"

"Well, I'll just go with you then, Finn! I'm sure father will let me!" Aerrow smiled happily, waving the feather pen in front of his face. "I mean, what could possibly happen to us?" He laughed.


	3. 2: Like owner, like pet

"Come now, sweetheart. Let's go for a ride!" A blonde youngling, who had a bow attached to his back along with a few arrows, happily explained to his light brown horse, which stepped out carefully from her temporary home, snorting as she did exactly what her owned told to.

"She's a beauty." Aerrow, who had two swords on his back, commented, watching his friend with great curiosity. "What's her name?"

"Lone Heart!" Finn grinned in joy, Aerrow almost falling over.

"Lone Heart? Is that the best you could possible give…?"

"Oh, be quiet! It's poetic!" The blonde petted and patted the horse, snuggling her kisser with a chuckle. "Who's a good horse? You are!" He smiled as the red-haired prince rolled his eyes and came a bit closer to the two.

"You're so funny, Finn." He chuckled, all of sudden hearing footsteps coming towards them. It sounded almost like running.

"Just wait right there!" A masculine voice called, capturing both of the boys' attention right away. "Where in the world are you going?" King Rook's voice was strict and strong, but not mad or that scary. But Aerrow knew it was all just a distraction; a mask to make kids listen to him easier so he can punish them easier.

"Riding…" The young prince mumbled, Rook letting out a small huff.

"That is our of question! You're not allowed to ride and not outside the rampart, for that matter!"

"But—"

"Out of question!"

"He could ride with me, couldn't he?" Finn asked, Rook folding his arms and shaking his head.

"Your horse is too young to carry two people at once."

"Ah…" The blonde swallowed, feeling little silly for not knowing something as simple as that.

"He can take my horse." Another voice was heard and it belonged to none other than the king's brother, "prince" Ace.

"Ace!" Rook watched the young man in slight shock, as did both of the younglings.

"But your horse doesn't even like me!" Aerrow whined, his uncle chuckling in pure amusement.

"Ah, yes, I remember. Like that one time he dropped you and you broke your arm and there was also this time when he jumped over some fences and you fell down into a pile of mud." He laughed in his mind, but physically he was just nodding with a small, devilish grin.

"Hrmh…" Aerrow rubbed his right arm with a painful look on his face, Finn just glaring at the dark man. The red-haired prince could still remember the pain he had received at all those times

"But hey, don't worry. He's much more stable now and does anything I tell him to." Ace smiled, the red-haired prince swallowing unsurely.

"…and that's what worries me." Finn mumbled to himself as Aerrow looked up to his father a bit hopefully.

"Father…? Can I…?"

"I'm not really sure about this…"

"Daddy…? Please…?" The boy smiled innocently, his father letting out a low groan. He could never say no to his son when he was being like this.

"Oh… Dang it… Fine…" The king nodded with hesitation, his son squealing out loud and hugging his father happily.

"Thank you, thank you, and thank you!" He laughed, Rook sharing a weak one of his own.

"Well, I'll go get that little beauty." Ace was still smiling as he went in the stables and heading way in the back.

His horse's space was the second biggest and it was separated from the other horses, since his stallion would always be mean to them. Kicking, biting, neighing, scaring… Not that Ace could care any less.

He saw the horse laying on the ground, but the closer Ace came to the handsome black animal, the more it twitched it's ears, finally raising up to greet his beloved owner.

"Hey, Musta. How have you been?" Ace asked, his horse neighing to him proudly, kicking the ground twice. "Good. Now listen carefully, Musta. This is really important. My good for nothing nephew is going for a little ride with his useless and foolish blonde friend. So you're going to with that "prince" and make sure they go very, very far. Be sure the blonde's horse abandons his owner as well." He leered evilly as he petted the horse's kisser. "You got it?" The black stallion snorted, tilting his head back quickly, Ace chuckling dangerously.

"You're the smartest horse ever." He grabbed the needed equipment from the wall, going into Musta's fence and saddling him. Ace then began to lead his most loyal companion towards the exit. "We'll get rid of that pesky boy. Once and for all. Then we can get the power to control this kingdom and finally: the world!" He laughed, looking at his horse with a very pleased expression. "It's alright if this fails; I have plenty of sneaky plans to use. But do whatever it takes to success. I may have back-up plans, but I am nor used to failing."

Musta nodded in agreement, both of them finally getting outside, where Finn was already sitting on his horse and Aerrow was petting her head, while Rook watched him with a soft smile.

Aerrow noticed his uncle appear, going over to his carefully. "You sure this is alright?"

"Sure, sure. Musta is a good horse. You just have to show him some respect and he'll respect you. He's also a very brave one. Not easily frightened." He explained as he handed over the bridle for the young prince. "Treat him well, or I WILL kill you." Not that he'd had to after this, he thought.

"Should be the other way around…" Aerrow mumbled and took his time to climb on the horse, which wasn't easy at all, for Musta was a big horse. When he finally got up, with the help of both Rook and Ace, he was very excited and very ready to go. "Yes!" He grinned widely. "This is so much fun! And the horse isn't even moving yet!" He looked at Finn with bright eyes. "Let's go!" He chirped, the blonde grinning back at him just as happily.

"Be careful, son!" Rook watched him in worry. Aerrow just nodded and quickly ran after Finn, who had already started moving.

As the two ran towards the gates, Rook couldn't help but keep watching after his son in even deeper worry. "Is this really going to be alright?"

"I assure you, Rook." Ace smirked, his brother too occupied with his concern over the youngling that he did not even notice it. "Everything will be alright."

Jazz and Radarr were standing over the big stairs in front of the castel's main entrance, watching the scene in slight worry as well.

"Please be safe, Finny boy…" Jazz whispered. "I hope he remembers that we have to be home in two days… And it takes long before we can get there, too…" He sighed. "I can't let him change again…" The blue creature ignored the man and just watched after his master, feeling that something would go totally wrong.

_Please come back safe, master… Prove that my instincts aren't right this time…_

* * *

><p>"This is so much fun! And see! I can ride Musta just fine!" Aerrow proudly started, Finn watching in slight jealousy.<p>

"Guess so…" He mumbled as the redhead began to run across the fields.

"Catch me if you can!" The younger prince shouted, the older one growling lightly.

"Don't get too cocky, little one!" As he was about to go after his friend, he stopped and looked over the main road,, a wide grin appearing on his face. "Aerrow! Look!"

The younger one stopped and looked over to the prince of Vapos, then to the direction he was looking at, a wide smile coming onto his face as well.

"Ah!" He turned the horse and began to run back to the main road. "Piper! Piper!" He waved his arm, catching the mentioned female's attention, plus her two companions'; her twin sister Perry's and their loyal bodyguard Starling's.

"Aerrow!" Piper squealed, stopping her horse, the other two doing the same.

"Hey!" Aerrow laughed softly as he stopped a couple of meters away from the three. "It's nice to see you all! Piper. Perry. Starling." The boy bowed politely to everyone at once, the three mimicking his action. "So, how are you doing, Piper? I haven't seen you for like… Well… For a long time!"

Piper giggled. "I know! But we were just about to come to meet you all!"

"Oh?" Aerrow's face lit up, a slightly frustrated cough escaping from Starling.

"Princess Piper… We must go…"

"You go on ahead. I'll stay with Aerrow a bit longer." The dark haired female smiled, making the oldest female's jaw drop.

"But princess—"

"Let her stay." Perry finally said out loud. "After all, I'm the older one and am mostly needed. Let the children play." She explained, the female bodyguard swallowed Piper rolled her eyes.

"Well, thank you, sister." Piper snorted and turned her horse to Aerrow's direction. "I'll see you later then!" She smiled brightly to the two and ran away, Aerrow and Finn following her instantly, leaving Perry and Starling watch after her for a while.

"What should we—"

"Let's go." The princess interrupted her bodyguard's sentence, continuing her path to the castle of Atmosia. "She'll make it back alive." She simply said, Starling not daring to ask any further as she followed her master.

Aerrow and Finn, now joined by Piper, ran across the fields, laughing and giggling out of joy. A couple of times Musta looked like he had had enough of Aerrow, but he seemed to be fine with it after all.

After a while of careless running around, Finn finally stopped with a yelp. "Hey, look!" He pointed at a large forest that was almost right in front of them, big playful grin on his face. "Let's go in there!"

"Are you crazy?!" Piper screamed, stopping right next to him. "That place is huge! We might get lost!"

"She's right, Finn." Aerrow walked the horse next to Piper, not looking too happy about his friend's idea. "Plus, no-one is allowed to go in there. It's a forbidden place." Aerrow continued, making his friend laugh.

"Oh, don't be like that, you two!" He smirked, watching the only female of the trio sneakily. "Who is the best there is to be when it comes to maps and navigating?"

The dark female leered, coughing softly into her fist and touching her face with her fingers. "Well…"

"And we got horses and weapons. What could possibly get us?" The blonde prince bragged, The red-haired one still being rather unsure.

"Maybe it's still not such a good idea…" He stated, when suddenly Musta neighed and raised on his back feet, kicking his front feet a few times before starting to run straight into the forest. "Ah! Stop! Musta!" But nothing.

"Now, there's a good attitude!" Finn grinned, he and Piper following the youngest one into the woods, not having the slightest idea what they are about to meet up with.


	4. 3: Forest People

"Musta! Slow down! I'm going to fall!" Aerrow whimpered, but the horse kept on running, Finn's horse almost having a hard time following them.

"Whoa! That horse sure can run!"

Then, slowly, but surely, Musta started to loosen up and in a while, his mad running had turned into calm walking. Aerrow still held on tightly to the horse, looking overly surprised and terrified. "I. Want. My. Own. Damned. Horse." His voice was shaking slightly, as Musta neighed evilly, waving his tail in amusement.

"Was it really that bad? It looked like fun!" Finn now walked on Aerrow's left side, grinning widely, while Piper rode on his right, looking worried and amused at the same time.

"Don't make me slaughter you…" Aerrow glared at his blonde friend angrily, who just giggle playfully.

"Right, right." Finn looked around curiously, blinking a couple of times. "I wonder how deep in the forest we are…"

"We should head back… Who knows what'll happen in here…" Piper whispered, getting an eerie feeling about the forest. "I have a bad feeling…"

"Pffh." The blonde prince huffed and jumped off his horse, taking a few steps forward, only now noticing that the place they were in was like a big passage of some sort. Like there had been a river once, but it had dried up long time ago. The boy was grinning widely as he kept on walking, but as he stopped, so did his grin. "I hear something."

"Huh?" Aerrow blinked curiously at his friend, jumping down from Musta and running over to the older boy. "Where?" He looked into the direction where Finn was now pointing his finger at.

"Footsteps… Like… Running?" Finn narrowed his eyes, trying to see where the noise was coming from, but the forest was really thick and it was dark and blurry. What in the world was up with this forest? "One… Two… Three… Four."

"I see…" Aerrow positioned himself and took out his swords, swinging them a couple of times to get in touch with his skills. "Piper, you get ready as well."

"Right!" The dark female nodded, getting off of her horse and going next to Aerrow, looking at the boys with a very serious expression as she took out her wooden staff. They waited patiently and finally, they saw it.

"Huh…?"

"Wha..?"

"…?"

The trio lowered their weapons, staring at the small creature that was running towards and looking behind with a very terrified expression. "What in the world… Is that…?" Aerrow whispered, as his eyes kept widening and widening, blinking a few times when the little creature ran into Finn. It had two toned brownish green skin, pointy ears, a rather long blackish hair and a tail. Its clothing was rather unique, too.

It yelped as it fell onto its rear, sniffling quietly before looking up in pure horror. It let out a frightened squeal, obviously fearing for being devoured by the three humans.

"Forest people." Piper then finally answered, watching the little one in fascination.

"Huh?" Finn looked at female, like she was some sort of retard. "Can that be? It's just a mere myth!"

"Looks like it's not…" Aerrow swallowed, putting his weapons away, Finn and Piper following his lead. The boy kneeled next to the creature, smiling softly at him and holding out his hand. "Don't worry. We won't harm you."

But the creature squealed again, a lot louder this time, hurting a little the trio's ears. "Holy mother earth! That kid is loud!" Finn whimpered, holding his ears. He then looked up, noticing someone else coming. "Aerrow, the rest three!"

The red-haired prince took out his swords again, glaring at the direction, where three humans were coming out of. He noticed the weapons they were holding and instantly realized the true nature of those people: hunters.

"Well, well, we found the monster!" One of them smirked at the little creature, who was frozen from fear.

"Yeah. Now we can capture it and sell it for a good price." The hunter in the middle said, who looked like he was the one giving orders.

"What about those kids?" The third one calmly said, not really being interested in the whole hunt.

"Oh, I didn't even notice." The leader snickered mockingly. "Trash like that don't interest me."

"Trash…?!" Finn growled, almost attacking them, but Aerrow silently put his arm in front of him and stepped forward.

"We're not letting you take this creature." Aerrow watched the three hunters with determination glimmering in his green eyes. "You'll have to fight for it." He positioned himself, the trio watching in confusion.

"Ha! Are you kidding me, kid?" The leader laughed, swinging his long sword in a very threading way. "What can a small brat like you do, huh?" He sneered, the silent hunter blinking in surprise.

"The prince." He watched the boy in surprise, as did his fellow hunters.

"What?"

"It's the prince of Atmosia. The son of king Rook."

"WHAT?!" Now, a yell escaped the leader's throat as he glared at the boy. "It can't be! What does someone like him do in a place like this?!"

"It's also the prince of Vapos and the princess of Klockstoppia." The smallest (first hunter who spoke earlier) of the hunters swallowed, not feeling too good about this. "B-boss, let's go back, I don't have a good feeling about this…"

"Pffh! No way! I will get that creature, no matter what!" With a loud growl, the leader charged towards Aerrow and swung his sword at him, which the boy easily blocked with a sneer.

"Is that all you've got, Mr. Hunter? Then things aren't looking good for you." The youngling roared, pushing the man's sword away, sending it flying a couple of meters away. He then stepped away, swinging his weapons, showing off his skills a bit. "So won't you just leave nice and slowly?"

The leader growled, then smirking widely and laughing loudly, receiving long stares from the teens. "Leave? Just because some random brat took away my sword? Don't make me laugh!" He yelled, swinging his leg at the boy, who started to panic. He quickly turned the swords, not wanting the man to kick the blades. Aerrow didn't want to make anyone bleed.

But as this happened, the two other hunters ran towards Finn and Piper, the little creature deciding to hide behind Finn, feeling more safe there. "Finn! Piper!" Aerrow looked over to his friends, but almost getting caught off guard by the leader.

"You better worry about yourself!" He snickered, readying himself to punch. "I know your weakness, brat!"

Meanwhile, Finn was positioning himself again; carefully aiming at the tallest (third hunter) hunter, but not really sure if he should shoot or not. He rather disliked killing. But as the man got closer, he knew he had to do something, so he shot the man in the leg.

"Argh!" The man yelled, Finn taking out another arrow, noticing that the second one was now charging towards him as well. The blonde knew he couldn't possibly take out the arrow in time, but he tried anyway. Luckily, Piper blocked the man's attack with her staff, pushing him away, which obviously surprised the man. And even Finn.

"Sheesh! Where are you hiding your muscles!"

"No time for jokes, Finn! Protect that child!" She hissed, trying to block the small hunter's attacks. Finn swallowed, looking down to the child and taking it in his arms, which then started to squeal and writhe in fright.

"Easy, easy! I'm just trying to help!" Finn yelped, not noticing the tall man take out the arrow and come after him again. When he did finally see him, his fist was already meeting up with the boy's cheek, making him drop the child on the ground. "Gyah!" He fell down, holding his reddish cheek, then realizing what just happened and quickly pushing himself over to the child, taking him into a tight hug, trying his best to cover him.

"Futile." The man snarled, not liking the fact that the boy was pretty quick when he felt like it. "Release that creature, or I will kill you." He threatened, but Finn only made sure he was covering the child properly. "Hmh. Suit yourself." The man quickly took out a knife and swung it towards the blonde's back.

"Finn!" Piper yelped, wanting to go to help, but she was very busy with the small man, who had the stamina of a young dog.

Then, all of sudden, a high pitched sound was heard in the air and Finn raised his head to see what it was, as there was no attack forwarded to him, too. He looked over his head, his eyes getting as wide as they possibly could.

The man was shot right in the middle of his forehead.

He fell down, lifeless and just staring into emptiness. No-one could survive such an attack. Finn slowly stood up, watching the corpse in slight fear, then hearing all kind of sounds: branches breaking in half, leaves getting kicked out of the way. And weapons. He slowly looked up to the edges of the possibly dried up river, seeing many odd creatures standing at the edges. Ones like the little one in his arms; green coloured skin, some with brown mixed green skin. Then there was another creatures; bigger, obviously stronger. They were brownish, a little bit gray on them as well. And instead of a nose, they had a horn.

What in the world were they…?

The other two hunters, as well as Aerrow and Piper, had noticed the strange people and were now backing away from the kids. They looked at their fallen comrade, the leader hissing in anger. "Let's get the hell out of here!" His companion nodded and they began to run as fast as the could, only to get a couple of arrows shot into their backs, making them fall hard down on the ground, both of them dying as quickly as the tallest one.

The three kids watched the dying hunters in shock, the small creature in Finn's arms sobbing quietly. Aerrow's gaze ran over the people, but was quickly forwarded at his friends. "Piper, quickly! Drop your weapon! Finn! The child!" The female blinked as she nodded, dropping the staff, while Finn was slowly kneeling down and letting go of the child, which instantly ran over to his kind.

"What do we do now? They're aiming at us now…" Piper raised his arms as the boys did the same, not seeing how Musta was tilting his head a little, clearly having a some sort of plan.

And suddenly, Musta raised his upper body in the air, scaring the life out of the trio and getting to kick Aerrow's shoulder, sending him down to the ground. "Musta! What has gotten into you?!" He yelled, but the horse ignored the boy and began scaring the other two horses. The started to panic and decided to start running away from the black horse, fearing that he might actually kill them.

"Lone Heart!" Finn screamed after his white horse, really wanting to go after his horse and help the poor creature, but what could he possibly do?

"Kristall!" The dark female shouted after her beautiful light brown horse, pretty much wanting the same as Finn, but it was impossible to chase after the horses.

"Damn…!" The blonde growled, his friend's whine finally getting into his ears. "Aerrow…!" He kneeled down to the boy, who was holding his shoulder with a painful look on his face.

"It's as if it was hit by a big rock…" Piper noted, swallowing in concern, looking over the creatures that had now lowered their weapons. "Hey! Look…!" She gasped, making the boy's instantly look up in surprise.

"What are they up to now…" Finn glared at them suspiciously, which he calmed a bit when the creatures walked back a few steps, as if they were making a passage for something, or someone.

An older looking creature (but not much older from Jazz, Finn thought) with a pretty long cane stepped out; it was the same kind of creature as the little one thy protected a while back. It was looking down on the trio with a blank face for a quite long while, before pointing at them with the wooden item. "You three." Its voice wasn't too low, which made it hard to figure out whether the creature was a female or a male. All three still guess it was a he. "Follow me. If you refuse, we will kill you all without haste."

The trio stared at them in silence for a short moment, before Finn let out a nervous laugh. "They gave us many options, now didn't they?"

"Mmm…" Aerrow mumbled, standing up with his hand still on his shoulder. "Let's go. The situation can't possibly get worse than this." He began to walk over to the older creature, his two friends following him with unpleasant looks on their faces.

"Why do I get the feeling that you're going to be very wrong with that statement…?" The blonde swallowed.

"I get the same feeling…" A heavy sigh came out of the group's female's throat as she brushed her front hair away from her eyes. "Things are Not looking good for us…"


	5. 4: Unique Allies

The village where the creatures lived was remarkable! It was quite huge and completely hidden in the forest. Aerrow just couldn't tell how deep in the woods it actually was, but he was surprised none has found it and conquered it. Then again, if they took care of people like those hunters, it wasn't that surprising in the end.

"This place is beautiful." Piper breathed out in excitement, her hands crossed like she was praying to be allowed to live here forever. It wouldn't be such a surprise, either.

"But I don't get it. You people have been living here for how long without people bothering you…?" Aerrow asked the man that was leading them to the middle of the village, where was a rather big plaza and at the edge (right ahead of them) of it was a hut that was bigger than any other of the huts around the place.

"Patience, young one. I will answer your questions in time." The stepped into the hut and there was a low table at the middle of the place and a small pile of pillows at the other side of it, where the man headed off to, slowly sitting down, motioning for the others to take a seat. "Please. Make yourself comfortable."

All three nodded carefully, taking their own seat at the table. Aerrow right in front of the man, Finn sitting down on his right and Piper on his left. Almost right away, another creature like the old man came over and offered some kind of liquid to them all. It was greenish and rather sparkly; they all guessed it was some sort of tea.

"Now." The man slowly took his wooden cup into both of his hands, taking a gentle sip of the good looking liquid. "One question at a time."

Aerrow nodded, fully understanding. "What are you?"

"Can't you tell?"

"We've never seen such creatures like you. Plus, you speak like humans do." There was slight hint of anger in Aerrow's eyes, but mostly, it was determination and curiosity mixed up together. The man saw this very amusing and had a feeling he would have no worries telling him everything there was to know. He could tell they understood each other through their gazes.

"We are very alike, human. More than you might believe." He chuckled, placing the cup on the table while Aerrow just let out a confused moan. "You are still so young, so I am not surprised you don't know anything about us. After all, we moved into these woods over four hundred years ago."

"F-four hundred…?" All three gasped, but only Piper continued.

"In these woods…? Without people knowing…?"

"There were few who knew about us. And they came after us." The man closed his eyes, showing no sympathy as he said his next line. "But those we eliminated. We want to live in peace, without the evil intentions of you humans."

"But that makes no sense!" Aerrow slammed his hands on the table, almost knocking down the cup of tea. "If that's so, why did you take us here? We might just run away and tell everyone about you!"

"Or they're just planning to kill us after they tell everything. They lose nothing." Finn stated, making the man chuckle.

"Don't say that." He took a better position on his little seat, snapping his fingers and making the same tea offering creature come back, this time with a long stick, which he lighted up with a green coloured flame that came out of his fingers and then giving the stick to the man. "Thank you." The younger creature bowed and left, allowing the man to place the head of the stick between his lips and inhale the…whatever he was inhaling.

"Of course we are cautious about humans that come in to this forest and are after our people. We can't let them go alive." He puffed, letting a strange coloured smoke escape his lungs. "But it's a first time I've seen a human risk their lives to save one of our dear children." He smiled softly to the three, who just stared at him back in awe. "Why did you do such thing?"

All of them blinked, looking at each other like they had no idea what the man was talking about. "Why Did we save that child?" Finn asked in total confusion, to which Aerrow just bluntly stated.

"Because every living being has a right to live…?" He swallowed, looking at the man again. "Besides, those people were going to sell him, like he was just an object. I couldn't allow it." There was another glare in the boy's eyes, which the creature just stared in fascination.

"Indeed." He answered, leaning closer to the table and offering the stick to the red-haired boy. "Those are the kinds of people that drove us into this forest." Aerrow took the stick unsurely, watching it like he had no idea what to do with it. "Lust for wealth, fame, women… We couldn't live in that kind of world. We had given up for the hope of your kind."

Aerrow looked up to the man as he held the stick between his fingers, blinking at the rather unique smile the creature was bearing. "But as I watch you… I get the feeling that humans aren't that rotten after all. It's like… I can completely trust you."

"It's no surprise. He's the prince of Atmosia, after all." Finn snickered as he watched his friend carefully mimicked the creature's action earlier with the stick, letting out the smoke carefully with his eyes closed.

"A prince, huh?" Another chuckle.

"Hey, what is this? It's… It's…" Aerrow tried to explain, but no right words came to his mind as Finn snatched it away from him, doing the same.

"It's what we call the Healing Smoke."

"A what…?" The blonde titled his head, letting Piper take away the object this time.

"We use all kinds of healing herbs in it and use magic fire to light it up. It relaxes one's body and mind, allowing you more easily to concentrate. It helps wounds to heal faster, too."

"Wow…" Piper blinked, giving the item back to its owner, who instantly took in a good breath of the Healing Smoke. "Such a thing really exists? This is superb!"

"But you still haven't answered my question." Aerrow then simply stated, looking obviously much calmer and sounding much calmer as well. "What are you?"

"A merb."

"I think I've… Heard that before…" Piper whispered, the two boys being completely unfamiliar with it.

"As you can see, our race is not used to fighting. We cannot use weapons like swords and axes; let's just say we aren't used to close combat. Archery and magic is no problem for us, though."

"Magic?" Piper's eyes lit up. " Is it really possible to use magic?" Her interest raised up to maximum and the oldest one in the room could easily see that. It was almost like childish curiosity. It was a little cute, to be honest.

"Are you interested in magic?" The man asked from Piper, who smiled brightly with a wild nod.

"Oh yes! I've always wanted to learn it, but none of the humans know it anymore..." She looked down sadly.

"It's all about being one with the nature. The magic doesn't come all out of a person; most of it is from the help of nature and it's creatures. Whether or not you will learn magic, is up to the nature." The merbian male leaned back on his seat, letting out a deep sigh, some of the smoke escaping from his lungs. "So, what about you three? Do you want to learn magic?"

"I don't need it." Aerrow answered without hesitation. "If Piper learns it, there's no need for me to know it. And I have faith in my swordplay."

"How about you?" The man looked at the blonde, who just looked away in silence, to which the merb just sighed. "I see. The nature doesn't accept you."

"Huh?" Aerrow and Piper blinked, only receiving a shake of a head from the elder.

"There's no need for you to know. In any case..." He looked back at Piper. "We will try to teach you the art of magic, but it will take a lot of time."

"I'm ready." The female bowed and then the red-haired boy decided to ask another question.

"Anyway." He began, gaining the attention of the merb. "What are those strong looking creatures. They can't be merbs as well."

"Ah. They are our long-time companions; wallops. When humans began to be such a pain for us, both of our races escaped to this forest. We had never really been interested in each other, but as we cut all the connection to the humans, we realized that we needed to help each other as much as we could."

"They're the muscles, you are the brains." A cold statement was heard from Piper, just making the old man chuckle.

"Well, pretty much. They are strong and brilliant at making weapons. We on the other hand know how to use magic, make strategies and we can build many things. Sometimes we need wallops' help in order to build some things." He smiled, licking his lips. "But not only do we help each other in many things, we are also good friends with each other. Just to keep everything fair between us, we have two leaders; one merb, one wallop."

"And of course, you're the leader of the merbs." Aerrow guessed, smiling softly.

"That is correct. My job mainly consists on using my brain. Planning, analyzing, deciding... That kind of thing. The wallop leader pretty much does all the acting, possible battling... Of course she helps me to decide a lot of things as well."

"I see." Piper watched the man in pure amazement, smiling brightly. "You people do so well with two leaders! That's so amazing!"

"It's really nothing that great. Just politics." Once again, the merb took in the calming, greenish smoke, blinking couple of times before looking at the boy in the middle. "Oh, that's right. We haven't introduced ourselves yet."

"Ah!" Aerrow flinched, looking pretty shocked by his statement. "I can't believe I forgot!" He felt rather rude for not realizing this earlier. After all, it was his father that told him to always show your manners. Firstly; introduce yourself. "My name is Aerrow. The inheritor of the kingdom of Atmosia. My skills mostly consist on close-combat. I use the two sword technique." He smiled proudly.

"My name is Piper." The female bowed once again, smiling softly. "The younger twin princess of Klockstoppia. I'm also familiar with close-combat and I like to use a staff. But more than fighting, I'm more interested in navigating and magical powers."

"..." The blonde boy was still sulking, but he slowly raised his head to look at the merbian elder. "I'm Finn, prince of Vapos. Long-range style; archery is what I'm good at. Training to get a full control of myself." He stated coldly, receiving a confused stare from Piper, while Aerrow just stared the table in silence and the merb kept the stick between his lips.

"Hmm." He moved the stick away and breathed out, finding the trio very interesting. "Fascinating. All royalty, huh." He smiled to himself, crossing his legs. "Anyway, my name is Vaughn. As said earlier, I am one of the two leaders and I'm not really into fighting. But if it comes to that, I rely on magic and mental battling."

"Mental what...?" Finn asked, completely falling off the boat.

"It's an uncommon way of battling." Piper answered, raising her finger. "It where you use your words as a weapon and strike a person's mind, trying to make them lose the will to fight."

"Whoa. That's sounds rather harsh." The blonde boy winced.

"It is, when one is really good at it." Vaughn nodded, twitching his ears a bit. "Now, please do enjoy your tea. It takes long for it to cool down, but it's still better to drink it fresh."

"Oh, right!" Aerrow rubbed the back of his head, taking the cup in his hands, his two companions doing the same and all of them taking a careful sip. Except Finn, of course, who drank it all with three gulps, receiving a bad look from the other two.

"You have no manners, do you?" Piper hissed lowly, Finn just blinking at her in confusion.

"I do, too! I just don't want to spill it..." He put down the wooden item and five seconds after that, loud footsteps were heard right outside the hut. Not long after that a female wallop barged in the place, looking extremely pissed off.

"Vaughn! What is the Meaning if This?!" She roared, sending shivers down the spines of the humans. What a scary creature. "You invited Humans here without asking me anything?! Is this what you call teamwork?!"

"Calm down, Eunice." Vaughn rolled his eyes, leaning his head against his hand with a sigh. "They mean no harm."

"No harm?! They're Humans, Vaughn! H-U-M-A-N-S!"

"I know that." He sighed again, shaking his head and sitting back up properly. "But listen to me. I know what I'm doing."

"Oh, is that so! Then what are you planning to do, hmm?"

Vaughn leaned closer to the humans, crossing his fingers and looking at the three very seriously. "I'd like us to become allies."

"WHAT?!" Eunice screamed, while the humans watched him in surprise.

"Allies...? But-" Aerrow began, but was interrupted by Vaughn.

"Even as we speak, something evil is planning to take over these lands. You may have realized it too, the evil, uncomfortable feeling in the air."

"Ah... Yes." The youngest human nodded nervously, a small sweat drop running down his temple. "Last night... I could feel a very eerie force... Very scary and mysterious, but at the same time I felt like it wasn't the first time I felt it..."

"Indeed." The merb leader nodded. "The history is about to repeat itself, which is why faith has leaded you in our village."

"Vaughn, what are you talking about?" Eunice growled in surprise, receiving a piercing stare from his fellow leader.

"Can't you see it, Eunice?" A sigh escaped from the old male. "Oh well, I'll tell you more later. But first..." He turned back to Aerrow, holding out his hand to him. "Please. Let us become your allies. This battle; it's not only yours or ours. It's everyone's. We will need each other. What is your answer?"

The boy stared at the hand and the man, not really sure what to do. When Aerrow was about to reveal his decision, another interruption was made by the person, who was standing over an entrance that lead to some other room. "I won't allow it."

"Eh?" Everyone looked over to that person, who had one arm on his hip and beard a very frustrated and an unhappy look on his face. The person looked a lot like the merb leader, but was obviously much younger and prettier. The human trio couldn't really tell whether it was a male or a female.

"We should just eliminate the humans once and for all." He(she?) said emotionlessly and for some reason, angering the blonde human to no end. "We shouldn't trust them. They kill anyone without haste, if they can get whatever they want."

"What the hell?!" Finn stood up quickly, pointing at the young merb and looking very pissed off. "What about you then?! You people shot those hunters without thinking twice! They can't be all evil! And they probably had their own families as well!"

"Finn, calm down!" Aerrow ordered, but had no effect on his friend.

"You're saying we kill without haste?! Clearly you don't know anything about us!"

"Oh yeah? I think I know your kind well enough!" The merb shot back, crossing his arms. "Always making war! Killing, stealing, raping, betraying... You're all the same!"

"That is enough, Stork!" Vaughn stood up, receiving a glare from the younger of his kind.

"How can you protect a filthy race like this!" He pointes his hand to the trio, Finn looking even more pissed off. "Don't you remember what they did to you?! That time when they broke your arm and almost sliced your throat?!"

A deep silence fell in the room, shock taking over the gazes of the humans. Aerrow looked at the merb leader in absolute worry, almost fearing to open his mouth. "Is that true?..."

"..." Vaughn sighed, rubbing his forehead. "A couple of hunters found our village. They caught me and, well..." He sighed, when suddenly Aerrow stood up and walked in front of him, dropping down on his knees and placing his hands down, letting his forehead touch the ground.

"What-" Stork, Eunice and Vaughn asked at the same time, but Aerrow interrupted before they could even begin.

"I deeply apologize!" He raised his voice, Piper slowly standing up in worry and Finn looking down in shame. "Please; do whatever you want to me! I will take your anger!"

The merbs and the wallop stared at the boy in silence, eyes now wide open from the surprise. A small smile appeared on Vaughn's lips, which then lead to him laughing brightly. "Oh dear!" Aerrow looked up to him, confused. Vaughn kneeled down and placed his hand on his shoulder. "You are truly an amazing person." He grabbed the boy's arm and helped him to stand back up. "You see now? Eunice? Stork? These three are not our enemy."

The young merb, Stork, watched the humans for a while, then looked away from the with a low grunt. Eunice on the other hand was now completely silent, deciding to state her new opinion after the silence had lasted too long. "I get it now..." She smiled carefully, placing her hands on her hips and letting out a strong, ear breaking laugh. "They are good kids, after all Ha ha ha!"

Vaughn just kept smiling as he took hold of his cane with both of his hands, walking over to the younger merb and patting his head playfully. "We should have a celebration party. To get to know each other a little better. But first, let me introduce the two to you humans. This one here is my son, Stork." He looked at his sulking son with a worried smile, before turning his gaze to the female wallop. "She is the leader of Wallops, Eunice. A little short tempered, but a good leader nevertheless."

"Well." The wallop grinned, twitching her eye. "Even though you just offended me, I'm in a good mood. And a party sounds very good!"

"Meetings are useless; instead, we should play and have fun. When we laugh, we truly understand each other and are able work together." Finn commented randomly, receiving everyone's stare, which made him rub the back of his head with an awkward smile. "Just something I heard my father say once..."

"Is that so." Vaughn chuckled to himself. These kids truly were interesting.

* * *

><p>It was already the beginning of evening and the sun was setting behind the distant hills, which you could easily see when looking from the roof of the castle of Atmosia. The gentle cool breeze that was touching one's face added more comfortable feeling to it all; it was a wonderful stress reliever.<p>

If it hadn't been for the beautiful evening, Rook would have lost it. His son still hadn't returned and it was driving him crazy. If anything had happened to the boy, he wasn't sure what to do. The whole kingdom could...

"How rude of ya. Leaving ya guests all lonely downstairs." He heard a familiar voice say behind, to which he reacted in no way. "Rook." The man's voice was more serious this time, obviously not happy about the silence he was receiving. A sigh was heard from the person, who then walked next to his friend, looking at the sunset with an invisible smile. "Is a beautiful sunset, is not?"

"Mm..." A nod.

"Aerrow is a skilled fighter. Not only that, he has the ability to make friends out of anyone. Plus, he's not alone." The blonde king calmly spoke with his rare, serious tone, allowing for Rook to sigh in turn.

"I know that... But I can't help but worry..." He crossed his fingers, pressing them against his forehead. "He's not going to come back tonight..."

"What?" Jazz blinked, taken back by his friend's words. "How do you know that?"

"..." The red-haired man said as he looked down to the bottom of the castle, noticing three horses running towards the gates. "The horses..." He gasped, quickly heading for the stairs.

"Horses?" The blonde quickly looked down and then at the king of Atmosia, hurrying after him with a huff. "Rook, hey, wait!" They ran down as quickly as they could and when they finally got to the main entrance of the building, the horses were already at the bottom of the stairs, where Ace was trying to calm down the hyperactive animals.

"Easy, easy!" He took a firm grip of Musta's bridle, the horse calming down almost right away, not daring to go against his master. "There, good horse..." He petted its kisser, while the other two horses were kicking the ground, but calmed down slowly themselves, when they saw the friendly faces of Rook and Jazz.

"It's Lone Heart..." Jazz whispered, going over the horse and placing his left hand on its neck and the right one on top of its head. "Where in the world did you leave Finn?!" He snapped, feeling Rook's hand land on his shoulder.

"Don't yell at him. It's not going to help." He calmly said, Jazz just nodding slowly in frustration. "Ace. Can you tell what's going on?"

"I'll try." His brother answered, sounding very concerned, but he didn't see the young man's devilish smirk to form onto his lips. "Hmm... Considering that Musta would be this scared... Would mean that they met something very scary... It's possible that those bra- kids were on foot when this thing, whatever they saw, so when the horses were scared, they began to mindlessly run away without them." As Ace explained this, he could see his older brother's face turn pale. It amused him to no end.

"So, it means..."

"It could mean that... None of them are alive anymore..." After saying this, Rook's eyes grew wider and he covered his mouth, the shock covering every part of his mind and body. This had to be a lie...!

He fell on his knees, not really knowing what to do. "Rook..." Jazz mumbled, blinking as he heard padding over the stairs, seeing Radarr hop over them. The kind could only watch the furry creature sadly.

Radarr had heard every word of the conversation, but he wasn't convinced about any of it. He didn't trust the dark man one bit and he was sure this was just another one of his schemes to gain what he desires. So he jumped on Finn's horse and grabbed the bridle with his paws. "You're planning to go look for them?" Jazz asked unsurely, to which the blue creature just nodded, turning the horse around, ready to make the horse run, but Rook suddenly ran in front of him, blocking the way.

"Radarr..." He watched the creature in worry, but there was a bit of the same determination and braveness he had seen many times in Aerrow's eyes. Truly like father, like son. "I don't know what's going on out there, but I just know Aerrow is still alive." A simple nod was all Radarr gave for a response and when he was about to go again, he noticed someone heading towards the castle. He pointed to the direction and everyone turned to see what he was pointing at.

"It's one of my soldiers...!" Jazz noticed, taking few, quick steps forward and waited 'till the man was right in front of him.

"King Jazz! We have a big problem!" He was in pure panic, which made worry be written all over Jazz's naturally pale face. "Our kingdom has been attacked!"

"What?!" The blonde yelped loudly, sweat starting to run along his temples. "By who?!"

"W-we are not fully sure, sir...! But we need your help and fast...!"

Jazz growled and clenched his fists, running over to the stables to get his horse, coming back rather quickly. "Rook! If Finn comes back, please hide him into a windowless room tomorrow night! And if insists on coming to help me, lock him up!" He pulled the bridle, making the horse raise his front legs and start running as fast as he could, the soldier following right behind him and not giving any kind of chance for Rook to give any objections. Not that he would have done that, he wasn't that heartless.

The blue creature watched after the blonde man in worry as well, clenching the bridle in his paws and letting out a pathetic roar, before forcing the horse to run, heading to look for his missing friend. Rook longingly watched after the two, grabbing onto his wine red coloured shirt, closing his eyes for a moment and then heading inside the castle. "Please take the horses to the stable, Ace..." He mumbled, while the mentioned youngster watched him with an empty gaze, doing then what the man had requested.

When the dark male got to the stables, he noticed the purple haired young woman lean against the wall. "I can take care of Kristall." She pointed at the brown horse, getting no reaction from Ace at first, but he then let go of its bridle and walked Musta inside the small building, while the woman did the same with Piper's horse.

After a while, Ace came back from the other end of the stable and stopped when he was almost over the entrance, since now the woman was blocking his way out.

"Starling."

"My, my..." She chuckled, pushing the locks of her front hair behind her ear. "You actually remember my name."

Ace simply sneered. "What do you take me as? I don't have that bad memory." He crossed his arms as Starling placed her hands on her hips.

"Oh really?"

"Yes. I have an excellent memory. It's just that I sometimes don't care enough to listen."

"Wouldn't that be "most of the time"?"

"Aren't you just hilarious today?" Ace rolled his eyes, stepping towards the woman. "Now get out of my way." He threatened, but the only thing she did was to take a firm grip of her waist, spread her legs a little and raise her chin, allowing her body language to tell him her answer.

He stopped right in front of her. "Is that supposed to scare me?"

"Won't you just cut the crap, Ace?" She glared at him angrily.

"Whoa." He waved his hands between their chests, pretending to be surprised. "Someone got woken up by a bucket of water, it seems." Ace let out a little smirk, while Starling just kept staring, even more viciously than before. She almost looked like a cat that was protecting its territory.

"Always the same, huh? You just keep toying with me as much as you possible can."

"Hey, I never promised you anything, so why are you angry at me?" Frustration covered the young man's face, his red eyes becoming even brighter. "You're the one who assumed stupid things from a simple kiss that never meant anything; never did, never will, so quit bitching about it!" He snarled, walking past her, but got stopped again as she grabbed him by the sleeve, receiving an even anger look from the young man. "Let go of me!"

"I know you, Ace! You don't do things like that, unless you really mean it! You never act careless and your every act has a meaning!" She snarled back, almost looking desperate. The grip she had on the dark coloured sleeve tightened and Ace was about the slap her in the face and run away, but then he got a better idea.

He knew he couldn't act violent now. If he attacked this woman now, his brother would know about it and raise suspicions. That man was foolish, but even he had is limits. Ace thought about it for a while and wheels started turning and clicking in his mind. He could only leer and laugh in his mind right now.  
>This woman liked him. And just because he had kissed her two summers ago, which was just for sake of him to get away from the trouble he had gotten himself into. He had failed in one of his plans and the only way to get away from it, was to win over this damned female's heart (it's a long story). He couldn't help but wonder how weak the opposite sex actually was; you kiss them once and they they start planning weddings and intend to live happily ever after.<p>

Ridiculous.

But useful. If he played his cards right, he would have more people as his meat shield, in case the people who hated him became serious.

"You read me like an open book," he smirked teasingly "Starling~" His voice was low when he said the mentioned person's name and it surprised the female completely. Her eyes grew wider and a small hint of a blush appeared on her cheeks. Ace then placed his hand on her slightly cold hand, grabbing it gently and raising it up to his chin level, giving it a soft kiss. He then got closer to Starling's face, who was obviously so surprised she couldn't say a word. It was just way too perfect.

Ace narrowed his eyes, giving her a mysterious smile; it was hard to tell if it was a smile or a smirk. She just couldn't tell. "What's wrong? Cat took your tongue?" Starling just swallowed, blinking a few times when the young man leaned closer to whisper something in her ears. "Let's go to my room. To get a little taste of... Privacy." It didn't really matter what he said anymore, this foolish female would follow him either way. She nodded slowly and so, Ace grabbed her left hand and began to lead her to the mentioned place. Starling could only stare at the ground with a deep blush on her face.

In his mind, Ace laughed. Loudly, evilly, strongly... He loved it when his plans succeeded. And he could just imagine what would happen in the future! The smirk on his lips grew wider and nastier, but he still made sure to keep it controlled. How could he take over this kingdom, if he lost himself?

But the thought of getting many people on his side and breaking their trust in the very end... It sounded way too satisfying.

He could hardly wait.


	6. 5: Love

It wasn't long after that when the sky got darker and the stars appeared on the dark blue roof one after another. This, however, didn't stop the blue creature that was riding accross the town to the fields. When the horse's legs met up with the glimmering, green grass, a soft light began to surround the creature. Slowly his legs, arms and his whole body became longer, his tail disappeared, his ears became shorter and instead of a fure, he now had a human skin. This change, however, didn't change his expression a one bit.

"That damn Ace..." He growled out loud, feeling the rage get stronger every minute. "Why does that foolish king believe him... Why..." He hissed, shaking his head and closing his eyes as he stopped the horse. "No... I have to calm myself... I will never find Aerrow at this state..."

He took a deep breath. "Calm down... Calm down..." He took one more deep breath and let it all out slowly, opening his eyes after that and looking up to the sky. "He could be anywhere..." He looked over his should to the village, biting his lip unsurely. "No-one could possibly be awake at this time of the day... But I guess it's worth the try..." Radarr turned the horse around and returned to the village, hoping for even the smallest clue about the whereabouts his young comrade.

But most of all; he hoped the boy was alright.

* * *

><p>"Whoohoo!" The red-haired youngling screamed as he danced around the big bonfire with a bunch of merbs and a couple of wallops. Piper was hanging out with some female merbs, giggling and laughing at the dancing boys and Finn was having a great time over the food area; he could eat the whole night! It was so delicious and so... Unique! Never has he tasted something like this!<p>

"I hope you choke on it." He heard the familiar annoying voice speak on his right side, rolling his eyes and swallowing down the food and then wiping his mouth with his arm, giving the merb a challenging smirk.

"Sorry. I'm actually good at eating." He snickered.

"Hmph." The merb, Stork, narrowed his eyes. He grabbed a plate for himself, sitting down next to the long row of low tables which were filled with all kinds of delicious foods. There had to be at least fifteen tables in one row and one table wasn't even enough for the blonde. He had the stomach of two tigers, as Aerrow liked to describe it.

"You eat like a wallop." Stork watched the human male with disgust, but it didn't stop Finn from filling his needs. Or rather his stomach.

"Food makes you grow big and strong!" He showed off the small muscles on his left arm, giving a slight glare at the other one. "And what about you? You look like you only eat a dish small enough to fill the stomach of a mouse! Once a day!"

"This is just the way I am. I'm naturally thin. I don't get fat no matter how much I eat."

"Ha! Neither do I, so there!" Finn smirked as if he had just won something.

"You're the most foolish thing I've ever met." The merb snorted, taking a small piece of many different things and placing them on the wooden plate, while the blonde was growling in annoyance.

"Argh! And you drive me crazy with your insults!"

"They're not insults, they're facts."

"Shut up! Or I'll choke you!"

"Go ahead. Show me your real nature and kill me." Stork said calmly, putting a small piece of a funny coloured vegetable in his mouth. And now, Finn was seriously angry.

"Just what is your problem?! Just because there are evil humans, doesn't mean there aren't any good ones!" He hissed and Stork returned back to his glaring.

"Oh, sure!" He yelled back. "You're all just the same blood shedding monsters!"

"We saved that merbian child from the hunters!"

"It doesn't prove anything, you fool! You probably did it just to distract us!"

"Aaaa, this is annoying! Which gender are you, so I know if I can punch you!"

This question made Stork blush madly for some odd reason, making him so angry that he could snap the human's neck with his bare hands, but instead, he decided to just punch him straight in the face. "I'm a male, you ignorant jerk!"

Many had stopped their activity to watch the fight in pure confusion and in a slight fear as well. One reason for it was, because Stork was usually pretty silent and distant. Now he was being sharp and aggressive like a wolf. They were a little worried that this will break into something very serious, but Vaughn assured them that it was alright.

Even Aerrow was confused about all this. He had stopped dancing a long time ago to watch the fight; eventually, Stork punched Finn in the face and went somewhere else to sit.

He sighed, shaking his head with a confused smile, continuing his little dance. He felt oddly free right at the moment.

Finn, enjoying the food (and only getting started), tried to forget the merb's existence by growling, noticed then a shadow that suddenly covered him. Mouth full of food, he looked over his shoulder and noticed a very happy looking wallop standing behind him. Finn could easily tell that this one was a male; well, it was pretty easy to separate male and female wallops from each other.

This wallop, anyway, had a rather brownish skin, grey eyes and greyish blue hair. Or something near that, it was actually pretty hard to tell. Very unique colour was all Finn could really say.

"Hey!" The creature greeted and Finn could only raise his hand and wave it a little. "I was very busy earlier today, but I finally finished all my tasks and was now able to meet at least one of you!" He grinned, sitting down next to the human male. "You met Eunice already, the leader of wallops, didn't you?" This time the blonde just nodded, food still in his mouth, but by now, he had stopped chewing. "I see. Well, I'm her son, "Junko! Nice to meet you!" He cheered, Finn's eyes growing wider and almost choking on his food, able to grab some water in time and help him swallow everything down. He coughed violently, wiping his mouth and watching the wallop in wonder.

"Seriously...? But... You... She..."

"Are not very alike, huh? Heh, I hear that a lot."

"Huh..." The blonde just stared in awe.

"So, what's your name?"

"Ah, oh...! Call me Finn!" The blonde grinned happily, grabbing a little cup that had small amount of wine in it. After all, he wasn't an adult, so they wouldn't let him drink much. He raised it up to his eye leve, the wallop then grabbing one cup as well and doing the same, both of them clashing them together and gulping down it all with one shot.

"Nice!" Junko laughed brightly, giving a gentle punch on the human's shoulder. Well, to be exact: gentle to Junko, painful for Finn. "It's really great to see humans like you."

"Oh, really?..." The blonde laughed lowly and weakly, rubbing his shoulder. That would so leave a bruise...

"Mmm... I always thought there had to be at least a few good people out there...I never fully believed your entire race would be evil! It's not possible!"

"What can ya do..." The boy chuckled.

"Ya?"

"Hmm?"

"What do you mean with "ya?" The wallop looked confused and so did the human, before he understood what he meant.

"Oh! That! It means "you"." He rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "See, my father created this strange language and tends to speak it when he's all carefree and relaxed."

"Eeeh?" Really? That's strange."

"Sure is..." Finn took his water cup, watching the liquid with a sad smile. "Ma dad is a odd fella." He laughed to himself, the wallop just watching him curiously, not really understanding anything what was going on at the moment.

"Anyway…" Finn smirked at the wallop, who flinched, not feeling good about the boy right at the moment. Let's get some more of that sweet wine~"

"I-I don't know, Finn… We're under aged…"

"It's fine!" The blonde waved his hand. "Or are you… Scared?"

Junko pouted, grabbing the closest wine bowl and placed it between him and Finn, scooping the liquid of the heavens and leering back at the human. "Let's get started."

"I like your attitude." Finn snickered and mimicked the wallop, both of the drinking the wine at the same time. And what a wild party came out of it all.

The night passed on and it was already very late. The sky was almost completely black, small stars blinking brightly here and there and the moon shining brightly, lighting everyone's path. It was an extremely beautiful night and not many would go to sleep too early, not even the children.

The human trio was now at the wallops' side, almost at the end of their territory, which had a big and lovely hot spring. The humans weren't fully sure how they had a hot spring, though; something about a cave underground with fire and all… Was used to make weapons… To be honest, none of them paid much attention to it all; Aerrow's mind was too occupied with worry over his father, Piper was too busy staring the skies and Finn was just way too drunk.

"Ah – Oh – Mmmm~" Finn moaned as he slid into the spring, making Aerrow and Piper rather frustrated.

"Stop that! It sounds very twisted and nasty!" Aerrow whined, a cloth around his waist, which was used as a towel, apparently.

"And sexy~ ?" Finn squirmed in the, looking like he was having sex.

"Yes, and – HEY! Don't put words into my mouth!"

"I could put something Else in your mouth~"

"FINN!" Aerrow was flushed, holding on to the cloth tightly, going in to the spring and to the other side from Finn. He sat down, letting out a comfortable sigh of the warmth.

Piper stepped in as well, in between the two boys, covering almost her whole body with her cloth. Unlike a certain someone: Finn had been way too drunk to make sure that his cloth was around him and she wasn't sure what the hell he had done with it, but it sure hadn't been with him. Meaning he had been completely naked the whole time they had been here. But this wasn't really the first time and she wasn't a sissy, so this would not have much effect on her.

"Is this really normal?" Piper then suddenly asked, capturing Aerrow attention immediately.

"…boys and girls having a bath together?"

"No, not that –"

"Me being sooooo hot~?"

"No! Finn, be quiet!"

"Then what is it Piper?"

"Well…" The dark skinned female licked her upper lip and swallowed, taking a gentle hold of her own shoulders. "Well… These forest people… Are they really supposed to be this nice…? I mean… They have killed so many people before… It could happen to us."

"No." Aerrow stated right away, looking extremely sure with the matter. "They won't kill us."

"How can you know?" Piper looked at him desperately, not believing the red-haired boy fully.

"What the leader told us… I mean Vaughn… The expressions he had… The tone he had in his voice… He's not evil. He doesn't want to make his people to kill, but more than that, he doesn't want his people to be killed. He trusts us, so I want us to trust him. That's… What I believe anyway." The prince explained, staring at the water and the princess stared at him, slightly worried.

"Aerrow…"

"Mmm… I think I'll go." Finn hummed, receiving both Aerrow's and Piper's stare, but then both turned away blushing, when the blonde stood up and had nothing to cover himself with.

"W-why so soon?" Aerrow stuttered, rubbing his nose shyly.

"I'm sleepy~ I don't want to drown~" He walked towards the small house where all their clothes were, trying his best to stay on his feet. The wine had really gotten to his head.

"W-wow…" Piper only commented, staring the water with another swallow. "He sure has… Changed…"

"Uh-huh…" Aerrow coughed into his fist, laughing shyly. "So, let's change the topic!"

Finn danced his way through the house, already been dressed up and ready to find his way to their little hut. A big smile was playing on his face and a deep, red colour was painted on his cheeks. He felt real good.

But finding the hut was a rather difficult for him; for his drunken sight and tired mind. For all his life, his eyes had been great. Better than great, actually. His sight was perfect. He could see anything and from a very far range. Just perfect for an archer. But now, his sight had betrayed him. It was blurry and confusing, which was driving the blonde nuts. He wanted to find the damn hut and get some damn sleep.

"Hmmm…" He then stopped, staring the ground mindlessly. "Hey, a shadow…" He giggled, as he saw the shadow on the ground. He waved at it and then began to wonder, why it was there. He raised his gaze and turned a little to see the beautiful moon in the sky. It made Finn's eyes sparkle brightly and the boy smiled at it. "It's so beautiful…" He breathed, but then getting a very bad feeling.

He felt dizzy and felt like something was trying to get out of his head. He growled, closing his eyes. "Am I forgetting something…?" He mumbled to himself and decided to keep on walking, opening his eyes a little and his gaze now getting a little better and allowing him to see the hut. There was something that he needed to remember, but what could it have been? He just wasn't sure, he was way too drunk… "Something about the moon… And getting home… Before… Before what…?" He said out loud, reaching out to the entrance of the hut and holding his head with the other hand. "I don't… Get it…" He entered the hut and headed for his "bed", collapsing on to it and painfully closing his eyes again.

"Dad…" He whispered, hearing someone laugh in his head and take out all of his energy, forcing him to fall asleep.

_Soon… We will let the blood flow beautifully, Finn._

* * *

><p>The room would have been extremely dark, if the incomplete full moon hadn't been there to lighten it up. But even if it hadn't been there, the blood red eyes would have still seen it all. Those eyes were so used to darkness that they almost melted when they met the sun. Almost.<p>

Ace stared the floor with those eyes. He just stared and stared, as if wishing to pierce the rocky plate. He almost looked like he was angry. But he wasn't angry. No, that kind of silly emotion would just get in the way. What he was doing, was planning after planning. He sighed as his mind just seemed too empty at the moment.

He was sitting at the edge of his bed, leaning his arms against his legs. He leaned back a little and supported his upper body with his arms, looking over his shoulders to the sleeping woman next to him. She slept like a little child, not knowing anything that was going on in the real world. Good, that's the way Ace liked it. The longer she was out, the better for him.

After a short while, he stood up and walked over to the window. The moonlight touched his face and his bare chest, making every little feature stand out. Ace leered. It might not be too long from now when he had to take everything in his control. If that brat was still alive, he'd be in lots of trouble, but he was sure that his fool of a brother wouldn't accuse Ace of anything. He'd just say "mistakes happen to everyone", probably.

What a mindless fool, he was. Ace couldn't help but laugh mockingly at his "brother". He just couldn't understand how a man like him could be a king. He was way too soft, way too forgiving and took his position too lightly. If Ace was a king, he'd make others know it. He'd make everyone beg, suffer, cry and make them know, who in fact is in the lead. He'd make them know.

"Ace…?" He heard a shy, womanly voice call, his face losing all the expression and then turn to face the woken up person. "What are you… Why are you awake…?"

"I can't sleep. You on the other hand, can go back."

"But…"

"Sleep."

"Alright…" The woman sighed, gazing at Ace's handsome chest with a faint blush. "Is there something bothering you?"

"Nothing that would concern you."

"You're always like this… Always so distant…"

"It's in my nature."

Starling smiled, closing her eyes slowly. "That's why I love you, though." She said quietly, Ace just watching her without any specific expression. He turned back to the window, snorting quietly to himself.

"Love, huh." He glared at the moon, almost wishing it to explode. "What stupid bullshit."


	7. 6: Reincarnations

"Now, don't you three look just great!" The leader of merbs chuckled as he watched the three humans wear new clothing made by his people at morning over his hut. The material was much stronger from what the humans made and the fact that he'd have to send the trio off with those kinds of clothes… He just didn't like it.

"Feels… Weird…" Aerrow looked at the sleeves of his shirt, which was mixed with green, red and brown. His pants were dark brown and his boots light brown. He had never worn anything like these, so it felt rather… Odd. It was quite different from the material they used. But these were much lighter.

"I kind of like it." Piper giggled, looking at her own clothing with a big smile. Her shirt was mostly dark blue; with a few brown parts (also the short was a bit longer, hiding her hips completely) and her pants were light brown. Her boots were quite tall and about the same colour as her pants, just a bit darker.

"This is going to help me so much in a battle…" Finn grinned happily as he put on his fingerless, brown gloves. He clapped his hands and put his hands on his hips, smiling happily at his clothes. His shirt was blue (lighter from Piper's), with a bit of brown and green. His pants were dark grey and unlike the other two, he had just plain shoes. After all, boots were never really his thing. Just plain, small shoes were fine to him. It was easier to move in them, too, Finn thought.

"It might take a while before you get completely used to them." Vaughn smiled as he took few steps away from the kids. "Now, follow me." He headed towards the wallops' area, the three humans following right behind him. They walked towards the blacksmith of the place and they saw only two wallops working at the place at the time. "Hey there. Are they ready?"

"Oh, yes. Just a little more to do with the swords, but other than that…" He then pointed at some table, where they saw the other, smaller wallop work with something. "There they are. Go have a look."

"Thank you." Vaughn motioned the kids to follow again and lead them to the table, all of them looking down on it, the trio looking very excited.

"Wow! These are –!"

"Your new weapons." Vaughn smiled, grabbing the long staff from the table and handing it over to Piper. "This is yours. It's made of a very strong tree, but it has its limits as well. Be careful when using it in hot places."

"O-oh, thank you!" Piper blinked, taking a careful look at the pole. It was rather heavy, but she liked it. The merbian leader then grabbed the pair of gloves and handed them to her as well.

"You use close combat fighting, don't you? These gloves should help you to plant punches easier." The female took the gloves and instantly tried them on, hitting her fist together and then looking around and running over to a random tree, jumping up and screaming out loudly and punching the tree, easily cracking it in half.

"Holy –!" Aerrow gasped loudly, watching the female with wide eyes, his blonde friend doing exactly the same.

"Remind me to never piss her off…" Finn swallowed, watching the female in panic when she came back, gazing the gloves.

"I love them!" She grinned widely, to which Vaughn just chuckled.

"I thought you would." The merb turned back to the table and grabbed the crossbow, handing it over to the surprised human blonde. "I saw you were handling a regular bow, so we figured that this might be a little easier handle and load."

"T-thank you!" Finn said loudly, taking the weapon, his eyes lighting up immediately. "I've always wanted a crossbow, but no-one knows how to make them anymore and the few we have are way too expensive! I'm truly grateful!"

Another chuckle escaped from the leader, who then turned to Aerrow. "Your weapons were a little difficult, though. We weren't sure what kind of swords you exactly prefer, so…" The wallop who had been making the swords, came over with four different kind of swords and placed them on the table.

Aerrow watched them in surprise, and feeling some sort of excitement. "Remarkable craftsmanship…! Wow!" He tried every one of them, looking quite happy. He wasn't happy about using the swords against other living beings, but not like anything could be done about it. "These are all good! I like this and this one the best, though." He held two of them, watching them proudly. One of them was a straight blade, which had a cutting edge on both sides. The other one was like a katana. No, it WAS a katana. Aerrow had only seen them in books and never held one. The head of the weapon was curved a little and only one side of it had a cutting edge.

"Oh, good. We weren't sure if you'd prefer both of the swords being exactly the same, but I suppose this is good too?"

"This is good! Great, to be honest! Truly, thank you very much!"

"It's nothing. We hope you use these weapons wisely."

"But I'm still a little confused… Why would you do this much for us…? For humans…? Don't you hate us?" Piper asked suspiciously, to which Vaughn just smiled softly.

"We have our reasons. Well… You'll find out, sooner or later. But for now, you'll have to get ready." He began to walk away again and the trio automatically followed him.

"Get ready…?"

"You want to go back home, don't you? We'll show you the way. But the future is quite… Darkish. You need to be as prepared as you can."

"You can see to the future…?" Aerrow asked curiously, hurrying a bit so he could walk beside the merbian leader.

"Not me. We have a few fortune-tellers and such. I have just instincts." Vaughn laughed.

"Uh-huh…" Finn blinked, he and Piper looking at each other, the dark female just shrugging as an answer.

Vaughn led them to the end of the merb village, where was a pretty big path leading into the forest. There were also a couple of horses and a carriage attached to them. "There is a path this big…?" Aerrow asked as he stared at the path.

"Yes, but the end of it is pretty much hidden in the woods so it's impossible to find without someone from this village. And it's pretty hard to find a way out of here, too."

"So… How are we—"Finn started, but got interrupted by the leader.

"We'll give you this carriage. We have filled with many things you may need on your way." He smiled, then turning around to see the wallop leader's son, Junko and his own son, Stork, approaching them. "Also, these two will join you."

"WHAT?!" Finn screamed, pointing at Stork. "That bastard is coming with us?!"

"I don't like this either, but my father insisted. If I could decide, I would have had your head on a silver plate long time ago."

"Grrr…" Finn growled, glaring angrily at the merb, receiving the same kind of look from him.

"Vaughn, you…" Aerrow watched the leader, who swung his staff and gently placed it on the boy's head.

"This world needs your guidance. Don't let us down, child. I wish you luck." He smiled and walked over to Stork, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You, too, son… Please come back alive…" He looked down and pulled him into a tight hug, to which Stork didn't say anything. He just gave a small nod. then Vaughn pulled away and took out a small bottle from his jacket, giving it to his boy. "Here."

"This is…" Stork stared at the bottle with wide, surprised eyes, making his father chuckle a bit.

"It's the water of life. Use it when the time is right." Vaughn caressed his son's cheek for a short while, taking a good look at him before quietly walking off.

"Vaughn…" Aerrow whispered and looked at the new crew members, smiling shyly. "So… You guys are coming with us…? Is that… Really wise?"

"If it's the leader's orders, we can't really object…" Junko laughed while scratching the back of his head. "We're not exactly sure why they did that, either. Before now, we haven't been allowed to leave this village and now they're ordering us to get out…?"

"Hmm…" Aerrow grabbed his chin and gazed the ground, thinking deeply. He had an idea of what it might be, but…

"Anyways… We should probably get going. Our parents are probably…" Finn calmly said, every now and then giving Stork small glares.

"Oh, dang!" Aerrow snapped out of his thoughts and panicked. "You're right! Let's go right away!" He headed for the carriage with others, stooping right next to it. "Who's going to ride this thing, by the way…?"

"I am." Stork raised his hand and climbed to the dickey box, grabbing the bridle and waiting the others to decide what to do.

"Okay. Finn, you keep him company. The rest of us; inside the carriage." Aerrow commanded, he, Junko and Piper getting inside the wooden vehicle.

"Wha— You can't do this to me! Aerrow!" The blonde cried after him, receiving a glare from the merb, who was trying to get his cloak probably, so it won't be in the way when he's driving.

"Stop whining and do as I say!" The redhead growled at the entrance of the carriage, which finally made Finn obey.

"Jerk…" He climbed to the seat and sat down next to Stork, still trying to keep as much distance as possible.

"Oh, you better put this on." Junko's hand came out of the carriage, between Finn and Stork, holding another cloak. "Don't ask why, just put it on." Finn took the clothing, blinking in confusion, but doing as the wallop commanded. "Let's go, then. We can't afford wasting anymore time."

"Alright." Stork nodded, taking a deep breath and then crying out to the horse and lashed the bridle, getting the two horses to move forward, obeying Stork's every movement he made with the bridle.

As the group left, Vaughn and Eunice watched them, both of them slightly worried, Eunice more than her friend. "Is it really going to be okay…? And more likely… You really let Stork go…? You've always been so protective of him…"

"Yes…" The merb whispered, beginning to take step after step, heading towards a small looking cave, near the entrance of the village. "It's true he is in very deep danger out there… But I can't go against destiny…" He entered the cave with Eunice and they both had to almost crawl to get inside the place. But as they kept on moving, the place grew bigger and bigger.

"Destiny, huh… Why didn't you say anything about it to those kids?" The female wallop asked, receiving a sigh from her friend as he raised his hand and a small ball of fire appeared around his hand.

"It would have given them too much pressure. And they will find it out themselves, eventually. Telling them now would be pointless."

"I guess you're right…" Eunice sighed, both of the entering a rather big cave, almost like a small temple of some sort. Vaughn raised his hand a bit and looked at the drawings on the wall. There were pictures of people, of darkness and despair and the five heroes who stood tall and fought the evil to gain the long lost freedom. "Still… I was rather surprised to see all reincarnations together."

"Yes, me as well…" Vaughn chuckled once again, placing his free hand on the wall, almost touching the spot where was a figure of a merbian like creature. "The evil ruler, Cyclonis planned for this day even since she was sealed away. Who knows if she expected to see the five knights again?"

"But they are still kids… Can they win against someone like Cyclonis…? The one who almost killed all the living beings that stood against her? The one who spread darkness almost all over the world?"

"Aren't you such an optimist…"

"I try." Eunice smiled, having Vaughn roll his eyes.

"I believe in those younglings. I believe they will get rid of Cyclonis once and for all. But… Not without a sacrifice…" He walked further, watching the storyline progressing and stopping at the part, where a person is laying on the ground, lifeless. "It can be so cruel, life…"

"Vaughn…" The woman whispered, gazing the wall sadly and then looking away in slight pain. "Let's just trust in them… They will make sure no-one has to suffer… After all, this destiny… I don't believe in it…"

"Indeed."

* * *

><p>"How can it already be this late? The sun is already setting!" Finn gasped, watching the setting sun in amazement.<p>

"Well, first, because one of you got filthy drunk, so others had to wait for him to wake up, dress up and eat up. Then the weapons, distance between the edge of the wallop village and merb village and lastly; the path from the hidden village to this dried up river." Stork coldly answered, making the blonde's blood boil. "If you use your head and do the math, it can be easily understood."

"Hmh…" Finn pouted, crossing his arms and looking away angrily, while Aerrow peeked out of the carriage to take a look at the two.

"Well, aren't you two just the best friends ever." He snickered, making both of the males growl lowly and dangerously. "Anyway… How long does it take to get out of this forest`"

"Hmm… Well, when we reach the castle, it'll probably already be the middle of the night."

"Eh? Seriously? That's kind of long…!" Aerrow whined, to which Stork just shrugged.

"It's nothing that I can easily fix. I can't go much faster in a forest, the carriage will break. Also, if we go fast by the town, it'll attract too many people. Just so you know, this cloak can't fully hide my face."

"Your horse kisser." Finn smirked, receiving a slap on the head from the merb.

"Be quiet, human! Anyways…" Stork turned back to the pouting red-haired prince. "As you see, it's matter I can't make any better."

"I understand." The prince nodded and returned back inside the carrier, sighing heavily. The only female of the group just smiled at him and placed her hand on his shoulder, getting a little smile out of him as well.

After a long while (full of despair and pain because of the awful ground), the finally got out of the forest and Finn grinned widely at the sight. "Ah! Good to be back!" He looked up to the sky, licking his lips. "It's already dark…"

"That's what I've been telling you, you idiot." The merb groaned.

"Leave me alone for one sec, will you?!" The blonde snarled and looked in to the direction the were heading to and saw someone coming towards them on a horse. They were still quite far away, but his eyes were awfully good. "Someone's heading towards us."

"What?" Stork blinked and tried to look, but saw no-one, smacking the younger boy on the elbow. "There's nothing there, fool."

"No, there's definitely someone." He seriously said, still looking at that direction like some sort of hunting dog. Aerrow then peeked out, looking very serious and staring into the same direction as his friend. "One."

"Okay. You take care of it." The boy ordered and the blonde nodded, looking at the merb.

"Better hide your face, freak." He snickered again, getting an angry glare from the older boy, but he did as told, knowing that it would be for the best. The kept on moving forward and the figure in the horizon became visible to Stork as well. The figure grew and grew as it came closer and not too soon at all, Finn noticed who the person was. "Ah!" He raised his arm and waved it, making sure the person would not be alarmed. "Radarr!"

"Radarr?" Aerrow snapped and pushed his head out of the curtains again, watching with wide eyes as he recognised his friend and a bodyguard as well. "It is Radarr! Stork, stop the carriage!" He fully came out of the vehicle and when Stork stopped the horses, the boy jumped down and took a couple of steps forward, smiling happily.

The blue haired boy ran towards them and stopped right next to Aerrow, turning the horse around a little. "Master! We've been worried sick! Where on earth have you been?!"

"It's a long story and we'll tell you about it later, but now, let's just go home. Dad and Jazz are probably waiting, right?" Aerrow grinned happily, which slowly faded when he saw Radarr turn pale.

"Ah, about that…" Radarr turned to look at the blonde in worry, swallowing in a difficult manner before opening his mouth. "Your kingdom has been attacked."

"What?!" Finn yelped, surprising even the merb, who had covered everything but his eyes. "Then, dad…?!" His face became paler than Radarr's and it almost looked like he was going to attack. The blue haired boy then jumped off of Finn's horse, trying to calm the boy down.

"Now, Finn, calm down… He told us that we have to keep you in Atmosia until things clear out. Especially the night after this one, when – Finn!" Radarr explained, but was interrupted by Finn quickly getting off the wooden vehicle and get on his own horse, making it run as fast as the animal could. He would not let his father battle alone!

"Finn!" Aerrow cried after him, then climbed next to Stork and glared at Radarr. "Get on! We have to go after him!"

"Are you crazy?! The king, your father…! He will kill me!"

"No! I won't let Finn go alone! Get on!" He yelled and the boy swallowed, nodding and then quickly obeying. "Stork, let's go! I don't care how many people notice us, just go!"

Stork smirked and took a tight hold of the bridle. "Now you're speaking my language."


	8. 7: Friends are Foes

The sky was dark and filled with dark, reddish clouds, as if it was warning people about the doom that was about to swallow them whole. The atmosphere all around the lands wasn't too comforting that night and it was difficult for people to fall asleep, without really knowing the reason.

The smirk that was playing on the small girl's lips was forwarded down on the town lot as she was standing on top of a cliff, the wind growing stronger every minute. The wind made her hair dance with the wind, showing glimpses of her evil gaze.

"Sleep, my dear Klockstoppia. Soon, there will be no peace anywhere." She chuckled dangerously, hearing footsteps coming from behind her. Knowing the sound of the footsteps, though, she didn't bother looking over.

"Master…" One of the two said, both of them kneeling down to show their respect for the girl. "We have almost captured all the people in Vapos." The voice was unsure and slightly shaky, which was when the girl decided to look over her shoulder a little and not too happily. "However… The king of the land came back and is giving a little trouble… Nothing we can handle of course."

"Excellent." The girl sneered, fully turning around to face the two. The one who had been speaking 'till now, was a pink, spiky haired woman, yellow eyes and she wore rather dark clothes and the other one was a well-built man, with spiky blue hair, dark blue eyes about the same kind of clothes as the female next to him. "Be sure not to kill that man. He might be of good use to us. You do know the legend with the beast that appears during the full moon?"

"That's just a fairytale!" The man snapped childishly, to which the girl just laughed.

"Oh, no, my dear. It's all true." She turned back to face the kingdom, smiling evilly to herself. "Until the age of ten, should the child ever gaze upon the full moon and the child will bear a heavy curse that will never fade." She laughed, licking her lips. "I should know, I planted that curse on their family."

"You… You did, master…?" The woman gasped, little surprised.

"Yes. The bloody bastards dared to seal me away. But before they could, I gave one of the knights the curse; the one who build the kingdom of Vapos, Lynn." She squeezed her fists, growling in anger. "That man… Those knights… All of them! I will never forget the way they sealed me away for so long… And now that I'm finally free…" She laughed, opening her fists. "I will show them what real pain truly is!"

"We'll stand by you until the very end, master Cyclonis." The woman answered; both her and the man bowing before the girl, who turned around again, smirking.

"Fabulous. I would have never thought that there actually were people who still supported me, after all these years. This is truly a great day." She rubbed her hands together, closing her eyes in thought. "I will show those pesky knights just how useless their reincarnations are. But still, I am very surprised there are ones. I was sure that by now, these humans would be so weak to do anything on their own!" She rubbed her chin, biting her lower lip. "Not that it really matters, even if there were twenty of those reincarnations. I will destroy them no matter what." A low snicker escaped from her throat.

"Master… What are you going to do about Atmosia?"

"I'll save it for dessert. I like eating the best bit last." She laughed evilly, black aura surrounding her figure. "I will show that pesky Aero that no-one screws with me! I will make that damned reincarnation suffer…" She licked her lips, her two henchmen staring her in fear.

"We will go back now, to get ready for the next ambush." The female explained, standing up with the male, who didn't dare to say a word.

"Do that." The girl smiled evilly to herself. "I will stay here for a little longer. To watch over my so called friend." She simply said, the other two being utterly confused, but decided to just nod and then take their leave. The girl watched blankly upon the kingdom, taking her pendant from under her shirt, gazing at it little angrily. "Perrigrine… I will never forgive what you did to me… Never…" She hissed, crushing the pendant inside her fist, not being able to break it, no matter how much she wanted it. But at the same time, she really didn't want to lose it…

"Perrigrine…" She looked down as she closed her eyes, holding onto the pendant as the wind kept on growing stronger and stronger.

* * *

><p>"Finn!" Aerrow screamed after the blonde as they kept on getting closer, his horse obviously feeling extremely tired. "Finn, slow down! Your horse can't take it much longer!"<p>

"Shut up!" Finn yelled back, an angry glare on his face as he just wanted to get to his father and fast. "I have to get back to father as soon as possible!"

"We understand your feelings! So why don't you try understanding our feelings as well! You're hurting your own horse!" The younger prince cried out, almost instantly making the blonde one slow done, forcing Stork to do the same. "Finn…" The both stopped, Finn now just staring down to the horse's neck, then deciding to jump down and go to pet the horse's kisser. "I'm so sorry, Lone Heart… I really am…"

"Lone Heart?" Stork asked, blinking in pure fright. "Please tell me that's not the horse's real name." He looked at Aerrow with wide eyes, making the boy laugh awkwardly.

"Well…"

"We should camp for the night. Finn's horse is just too exhausted; these carriage horses are quite exhausted as well, having to follow that kid with all that wight behind them… And there are few things we need to talk through." Radarr explained after he had jumped out of the carriage, staring at his master blankly.

"You're right…" Aerrow swallowed, looking around. "We better find a good camping place, first. Come on Finn." He motioned for the merb to lead the carriage to the forest nearby, not wanting any strangers to interrupt on them.

Once they had found a good place, the set up a fire and everyone took a seat around it. The also had a little bit of food in the carriage, meaning that everyone now was also munching on something to fill up a little bit of their hunger.

"So you're a merb and you're a wallop?" Radarr asked from the two creatures, receiving a smile from the other and a glare from the other.

"Yes." Junko answered cheerfully. "Or as you call us; forest people." He chuckled, making the blue haired boy nod his head.

"And why are you helping us now? After living in the forest for hundreds of years, then suddenly helping us with all kindness? Sounds rather suspicious, wouldn't you agree?" Radarr glared at them both, Junko just swallowing nervously and Stork sitting calmly, staring the fire.

"The thing is; our leaders told us to. We're not fully sure why it's like this either, but maybe we will get an answer for the matter at some point. But we can assure you that right now, we are here to assist you, as much as it makes me feel dead inside." Stork replied coldly, closing his eyes and hearing the new boy growl quietly. "We can just hope we'll get along and find the answers we need."

"You annoy me… But I guess there's no other choice." Radarr gave his last glare at the merb, then standing up and looking at Aerrow. "I'm going to send a message pigeon to your father. He's probably very worried about you." The boy then walked away from them a little, making the redhead sigh quietly.

"I'm worried too… About dad… And Finn's dad…" He looked at Finn, who was hugging his own legs, not looking too well. "Finn…"

"We have to get back, quickly… Before the next night…" He said in slight, but odd panic, receiving confused looks from the others, except from Aerrow, who knew exactly what he was talking about.

"It's alright, Finn. We'll get there in time." He placed his hand on his friend's shoulder, giving him a slightly worried stare, before looking at everyone else with a very determined and leader-like expression on his face. "When the morning arrives, we will leave as soon as possible. Understood?"

Everyone nodded as they prepared to go to sleep, not realizing that someone was watching them…

* * *

><p>The night was little chilly and calm, which was very fitting for the dark male that was standing at the roof of the castle, but at the same time, it was so annoying. He was trying his best to stay patient and not go around causing chaos. It wasn't that hard in the end, though. He'd rather make his plan work; otherwise, all the waiting would have been in vain. He couldn't lose concentration, not now.<p>

He sighed deeply. It was very frustrating to wait like this.

Then, he saw something fly in the sky and towards the castle. He narrowed his eyes a bit, wondering what it could be. Finally, he got to see more detail of the creature. "Well, well." He snickered, waiting for it to land before him. "A message pigeon, huh?" He noticed a note attached to the white bird, instantly snatching it. He unfolded it, reading it with a wide smirk on his face. "Ah, so they are alive." He licked his lips and pushed the note in his pocket, chuckling to himself. "Maybe I'll keep this to myself for a while. After all, what's wrong with keeping a little secret…"

Ace turned around and began to walk to the entrance, then stopping and suddenly flipping around as he shot a little, black fireball at the bird, which started squealing and flapping its wings in agony. Ace smirked widely. "You remind me of my nephew." He then turned around again as he began to walk off. "Or at least what he will be, one of these days.

He laughed loudly to himself; at least he got to make someone suffer for the time being.


End file.
